Written by

Jamie Samuelsen

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Wojo” show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

With Bruce Rondon struggling, is it time for the Tigers to really consider trading for a closer?

I’m just glad that the rest of us aren’t judged by 3 2/3 innings of work.

This would be like electing a President and then deciding after thee days in office that he’s not doing the job and a special election needs to be held. Or getting married and then realizing on the honeymoon that you married the wrong person (with apologies to Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian.)

In other words, can we all relax just a little bit? And when I say ‘we’, I certainly include the Tigers in the equation. The franchise spent the winter singing the praises of Bruce Rondon. And now after four outings in Lakeland, they’re “actively pursuing” another closer according to various reports around baseball. I think Allen Iverson needs to chime in here and remind everyone that we’re not talking about the regular season, we’re talking about practice games.

This is not to say that Rondon’s wildness isn’t cause for concern. It is. But this is not an overnight sensation. For his minor league career, Rondon walked 4.4 batters per nine innings pitched last year in the minors. (That number ballooned to 7.9 when he pitched in Toledo). After watching Jose Valverde and Todd Jones fill the closing role for six of the last seven years, I’m sure the last thing Jim Leyland wants is to know that most nights, his closer will put at least one runner on base. But Rondon also strikes people out. A lot of them. He’s fanned six in spring training and struck out 66 last season in 53 innings of work.

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There is so much conjecture out there that it’s impossible to know what’s real.

Are the Tigers actively seeking a closer because Rondon has been wild, or have they at least been kicking the tires of a potential closer all winter (as they reportedly were with Washington’s Rafael Soriano)?

Have they given up on Rondon already? Have they really discovered a flaw in his delivery correctible by some bullpen sessions or is this just a move to protect one of their prime assets from further scrutiny?

My gut feeling is that Leyland isn’t thrilled with the idea of an untested rookie pitching the most important inning of the game. And while the Rondon experiment is certainly not over, there is enough concern given the World Series aspirations of this team, that the Tigers won’t let the problem get out of control. If GM Dave Dombrowski were seeking advice on how to proceed (it’s very common for Dombrowski to check for wisdom from newspaper bloggers), I’d say this.

1) Calm down. Nothing has to be done in spring training. Nothing has to be done in the first few months of the season. Let this thing breath a little bit and see exactly where things stand. Remember, the Tigers essentially lost their closer last October when Valverde blew up and Phil Coke handled the job ably from that point forward. I doubt Coke could do that all season, but he could team up with Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, Al Alburquerque and Brayan Villarreal to get some key outs.

2) Call pitching coach Jeff Jones into your office and tell him that this is where he earns his money. Rondon has a 100-plus MPH fastball and a change-up that can reach 90. He has the stuff. The Tigers haven’t had too many prospects come up through the system in recent years, but he’s one of them. It’s now up to the coaching staff to see it through. It’s one thing for Jones to tell Justin Verlander to settle down in a big game. Anyone can do that. It’s another for him to take an unfinished product like Rondon and put some finish on it. Do it.

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3) Do not, do not, do not make a trade. Please save us from the Cubs’ Carlos Marmol who was part of one report on Tuesday. If you’re worried that Rondon was wild, maybe you haven’t seen much of Marmol recently (He walked 7.3 batters per nine innings last year). Closers are fickle by nature. Who would have thought that the Orioles’ Jim Johnson would lead the majors in saves last season after recording just 21 in his career prior to Opening Day? Teams often waste money or prospects chasing that elusive closer, and very infrequently does that guy come through. Valverde is a success story for the Tigers given what some other teams have gone through. (Frankie Rodriguez, B.J. Ryan)

4) If you’re going to take a flier, take a flier on a free agent. The prospect of Brian Wilson doesn’t thrill me given two Tommy John surgeries on his right pitching elbow. But when he was healthy in San Francisco, he was one of the top closers in the game. From 2008-2011, he saved 163 games in 186 opportunities (88%). I’d much rather see the Tigers roll the dice on Wilson than trade a good prospect (or Rick Porcello) for a closer that may not be any better than Wilson.

5) Speaking of Porcello, the thought of him as closer makes me very uneasy. He’s a ground ball pitcher in front of a defense that doesn’t specialize in fielding ground balls. If you thought Valverde was an adventure, Porcello could be worse, and it wouldn’t even be his fault.

Dombrowski has built a winner in Detroit thanks in large part to the generosity of owner Mike Ilitch. He’s made some shrewd trades and some smart signings. But he clearly hasn’t drafted that well. Of the nine guys that will start on most days for the Tigers, only three (Alex Avila, Omar Infante, Andy Dirks) were brought up through the organization. Rondon is supposed to be one of Dombrowski’s gems along with Nick Castellanos. It doesn’t matter how the Tigers win eventually as long as they win. But it sure makes it a lot easier when you can draft and develop guys through the minors and don’t always have to make desperation trades and signings to fill in gaps. I’d hate to see the Tigers do it at closer.

I don’t think it’s necessary. Not yet. Did anyone else notice that it’s only March 6?